The time has come to say adios to this bravenet journal.

The continuation of our travels can now be found at  Travelblog

So long Bravenet, and thanks for all the fish!

Temaiken is about an hour or so from BA on a local bus and is a zoo-cum-animal-sanctuary. We had a fabulous time warmed by the winter sunshine. The interactive zones give you a chance to learn about Argentina's wildlife, the aquarium was excellent, but Trish hated the bats!

So, once again, England fail miserably on penalties in the last 8 of the World Cup. it was very interesting being here in Argentina though. They celebrated every victory as though they had won the trophy and crowds gathered to celebrate at the city's obelisko.

We had to teach our American friends a thing or two about the passion of the beautiful game but even they were left heartbroken by Argentina's dramatic demise and, hopefully, by England's too. Russ was devastated once again, but it reminded him of an idiomatic phrase to teach his students - "to feel gutted"!

We spent a glorious day revisiting the San Telmo area of the city.

There was a classic car rally in town which was very interesting to see. The old cars looked as though they would fall apart as they rattled along the cobbled streets!

We also saw some odd statues today!

On the outskirts of the city we visited the "Feria de Mataderos" where lots of local handicrafts and foods from around Argentina are on display. The food was fabulous and the handicrafts were much better than anything we had seen nearer the city centre.

Throughout the afternoon there were singers on stage celebrating the Salta region of Argentina. The dancers were pretty good too, both on the stage and in the street.

Trish and I went along to the military polo fields for their open day. It was a fascinating insight into the Argentine military system with recruitment stalls for various regiments and even an anti-aircraft gun for the kids to play on!

We were also treated to a spectacular show beginning with the massed bands which were excellent. We saw cavalry demonstrations, a mock 19th Century battle (against the English, curiously defended by Scots Guards), helicopter raids and plenty of gunpowder smoke thanks to the cannons.

.....well, it sort of is!

We have had a month away from Buenos Aires catching up with friends and family in the UK which was great.

Now we are back in BA, about to get working hard with teaching English, and moving into an apartment tomorrow.

We will put entries on the journal whenever we do anything really interesting so keep checking just in case!

Just to the North of the city centre is one of the mostt bizarre attractions we have ever visited. Tierra Santa  (the Holy Land) is a kind of religious theme park where you can see recreations of various biblical scenes.

As it was Easter Saturday the hourly resurrection was cancelled. They were presumably having extras on Sunday! Seriously, that's what it was like!!!

With only a week until we go home (albeit only for a month) we decided to finish with a highlight and head up to the Iguazu Falls for the weekend.

Our flight was cancelled so the airline put us up in a hotel and fed us well. We didn´t miss out on anything though and had plenty of time to explore the 3 Frontiers area where you can see both Brazil and Paraguay from the safety of Argentina.

The falls themselves were breathtaking. The camera really can´t do them justice and they are our "must see" of Argentina so far. We did two trips. On day one we went to Brazil and you got an idea of just what a big area these falls were covering. The next day we were taken around the Argentine of the National Park. We finished off getting very wet with a trip on the river which took us underneath one of the falls! Good job we had a change of clothes with us.

The 3 Frontiers

Standing by a waterfall

Not our boat, but we went on one. That was wet!

Wow!

Niagara eat your heart out

Stunning, the only watçy to describe it.

A weekend at the seaside and our first glimpse of the ocean in months! We were lucky with the sunny weather but the wind kept us off the beach most of the time.

We were there for a public holiday to commemorate 30 years since trhe military juntas took control of the country. There were parades and demonstrations all over the place.

Near the docks there is a sealion colony. They were noisy and smelly but great to see.

The beautiful seafront. We had dinner on the pier.
The fresh bream was superb.

Smelly sealions.

Bright orange trawlers.

Colourful protest band at the rally.